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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer learned a discounter was selling a new beauty line that looked akin to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her nearest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item.

Its sleek blue container and gold top of the two products look noticeably comparable. Although she has not used the luxury cream, she claims she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK consumers state they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recent poll.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate bigger name companies and present cost-effective alternatives to high-end items. These products typically have similar labels and design, but in some cases the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Better'

Beauty experts contend some alternatives to high-end brands are reasonable quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think higher-priced is invariably superior," says skin specialist a doctor. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast about famous people.

A lot of of the items based on luxury brands "run out so rapidly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional argues alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "They will do the fundamentals to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a budget alternative or a product which is quite low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Container'

However the experts also suggest shoppers check details and say that more expensive items are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

With luxury beauty products, you're not just covering the label and promotion - sometimes the increased cost also is due to the components and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the research employed to develop the item, and studies into the item's performance, the expert says.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she says they could include less effective components that don't have as many positive effects for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The big question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott admits on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a established label but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the outer appearance," he warned.

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For advanced products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist suggests selecting research-backed brands.

The expert says these typically have been through costly tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty items need to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

If the label states about the effectiveness of the item, it requires evidence to back it up, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively reference testing conducted by other brands, she clarifies.

Check the Back of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a product is inferior?

Components on the label of the tube are arranged by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up